This Monday April 12th, sequence of the sundial:

Cruises and COVID-19

South Florida cruises have been suspended for more than a year after numerous known cases of COVID-19 onboard ships shut the industry down.

Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis announced one Lawsuit against the federal government for refusing to allow the cruise to restart.

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We spoke to Taylor Dolven, the Miami Herald’s tourism reporter, who said the federal government was following orders from the Centers for Disease and Control to keep the cruise industry closed.

“The federal government is really focusing on three different data points right now,” said Dolven. “How many Americans are vaccinated, and in that regard, most people believe we are doing reasonably well. Another data point they are looking at are these COVID variants. Are they still responding to these vaccines and other mitigation measures? And how quickly can cruise companies meet security requirements? “

Some of these security requirements include regular PCR testing of crew members on board and securing port agreements with the countries that wish to visit their boats. Cruises cannot currently moor in the USA, but want to reopen cruises in the Bahamas in the coming months.

Governor DeSantis and local leaders in South Florida, including Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez, have spoken out in favor of the continued no-sail order as thousands of people working in the cruise industry remain unemployed. And the money that is generated for restaurants and hotels that come from cruise-goers instead goes to port cities in the Caribbean.

Cruises and COVID-19, Tourism in the Keys, NSU vaccine requirements

Tourism in the keys

If you’ve traveled to Key West in the past few weeks it seems everyone is over COVID-19. The city has seen Thousands of tourists during the spring break.

“The county held its regular emergency call [Monday] Tomorrow and they said the Keys traffic counters were 100 percent [back to normal]. I think the Lower Keys were last 98 percent of the normal. I have [the] tentative occupancy in March … it was 95 percent with an average room rate of $ 436, “said Nancy Klingener, reporter for WLRN in Monroe County.

Tourism is a double-edged sword in the Keys, generating much-needed revenue as well as risking the spread of COVID-19 in crowded bars and busy streets.

“I definitely see visitors when I’m on Duval Street downtown. You don’t wear [masks] and they’re close to each other and walking around. The city had a strict mask ordinance that ordered you to wear them outside, whether or not you can have social distance. You stopped pushing this through. We reported this last month due to the governor’s order to cancel such COVID-19 fines, ”said Gwen Filosa, Florida Keys reporter for the Miami Herald.

Cruises and COVID-19, Tourism in the Keys, NSU vaccine requirements

Vaccine Requirements for Nova Southeastern

All faculties and students coming to Nova Southeastern University in Broward County this fall must vaccinated before August 1st. The university announced this last week.

At Sundial, we spoke to Dr. Harry K. Moon, Nova’s Vice President and COO.

“The vast majority of students, faculties, and staff were very receptive to and supportive of the decision. I think there are some who are a vocal minority who have raised concerns about the safety of the vaccine and the need for a mandate, ”Moon said.

NSU was one of the first universities in the country to require vaccinations. Days later, Governor Ron DeSantis signed an ordinance banning so-called “vaccination cards”.

“When we announced our plans, we were unaware of the governor’s plan to issue his executive order. With that done, let’s consider how this could affect us and our planning to achieve our goal – that the students, faculty, and staff will still be vaccinated when we return this fall. So it will be a process where we better evaluate it, understand it and how we can work with it to achieve our goal, ”said Moon.

More than 72 million Americans, or nearly a quarter of the US population was fully vaccinated. With the current vaccine supply and the permanent vaccination center on campus, Moon is confident that anyone who wishes to receive vaccine doses will be able to access them well in advance of August 1st.

Cruises and COVID-19, Tourism in the Keys, NSU vaccine requirements